Cycles
Transcript Anath Nair November 15th 2063 Globalization 150 Exploring Cultural Interconnectedness Prompt: Discuss an important moment in a culture you belong to. It can be as big or as small as you would like, make sure to include why the event was so important and what it means to you personally. Times New Roman font, 12 point, 1.5 spaced, and no longer than one page. Finding Svarga on Earth The culture I most strongly belong to it the Hindu faith. My parents are from India but I was born in America so my family is together more through faith than through heritage. They moved here in 2044 - in the middle of the Beacon Project., hoping to get a good education for me. Now, before I begin my topic I'd like to say that I'm not a religious scholar, nor am I a prophet, seer, or priest of any sort. I don't know the Bhagavad Gita by heart, but I understand that my parents have struggled with their faith just as much as I have. Since the Beacon Project began, Hindus have had a struggle with it. Many thought that the idea of eternal life, not brought on from strength of spirit inside oneself, was profane. Others believed that, as the Earth itself has an end, that immortality is just a buzzword and that we will all eventually die. Those who stayed here in America believed that this was our final cycle, our last life before we move on to being one with God. Everyone else, who believed that immortality would cause an interruption of the cycle, left for more religious homes. Many returned to India and Nepal while others went back to their loved ones in other countries. My family stayed because they were making this a home and they didn't want to run away so soon. This conflict can be seen mirrored in many important religions across the globe. Mecca closed its gates to the Beacons recently and the Vatican followed suit. My parent's native India has kept Beacons out as well. There has also been rumors that Israel is debating the merits of the Beacons and whether it is against God or with his idea of the World of Resurrection, and the Japanese have accepted a Beacon into Tokyo but are talking about leaving one island aside as a Buddhist sanctuary. It seems that this has become a major point of contention between religions as a whole, this question of what God's will actually looks like. Personally, I grew up on the inside of this conflict. It has been my struggle my whole life to evaluate what this means for the passage of my soul to another vessel. It seems that this is my last life, or perhaps that I will be reincarnated within this life, but I can't say for sure. I know that when this world eventually ends I will be reunited with God, but until then it seems like my purpose is to find the heavenly Svarga here on Earth. Besides, if we are all one with God then perhaps nothing we do or create can be profane because it is simply an extension of God's will and life. If I am to have only one more life, then perhaps it is important to make it the most peaceful, most beneficial life I can.